“My precious angel Valentino will forever live on in the memory of those who were blessed to have met him or know him,” his mother said in a statement to the media.

The boy’s father, Angelo Fabiani Arroyo, has pleaded not guilty to child endangerment and hit and run.

Authorities said the father was driving his pickup on Interstate 5 when he lost control and rolled near Old Town. The truck came to rest on a concrete wall down an embankment. Arroyo unbuckled his son from the car seat, and the boy fell through the passenger window about seven feet to the road below, authorities said.

Arroyo fled the scene, and witnesses rushed to the child, authorities said.

Arroyo was arrested two days later in Imperial Beach. He was on probation at the time for drunken driving.

Valentino’s mother is asking the public for donations to help with burial costs. Donations can be made to Valentino’s Memorial Fund, Account #425127631, at any Chase Bank.